Linked Data and the Semantic Web - Tom Heath

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Linked Data: The Story So Far (or, What Happens Next?) Tom Heath Platform Division Talis Information Ltd [email protected] http://tomheath.com/id/me

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Context

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Bizer, Heath and Berners-Lee (to appear). Linked Data – The Story So Far. International Journal on Semantic Web and Information Systems (IJSWIS).

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The Story So Far

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What Happens Next?

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Part 1: The Story So Far

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The Story So Far “Semantic Web, what Semantic Web?”

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The Story So Far “Semantic Web, what Semantic Web?” Design Issues: Linked Data

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The Story So Far “Semantic Web, what Semantic Web?” Design Issues: Linked Data Existing Open Data Sets

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A Cloud with a Silver Lining?

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A Cloud with a Silver Lining

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A Cloud with a Silver Lining ●

A great success indicator

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4.5 billion triples, millions of links between data sets!

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It's so big we can't really count the triples anymore!

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Barely fits on one slide!

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A great marketing tool

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What's the Opposite of a Silver Lining?

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What's the Opposite of a Silver Lining? → “Ha ha ha, the whole Web of Data fits on a single slide!”

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What's the Opposite of a Silver Lining? → “Ha ha ha, the whole Web of Data fits on a single slide!” “But there are billions of triples in the LOD cloud!” ←

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What's the Opposite of a Silver Lining? → “Ha ha ha, the whole Web of Data fits on a single slide!” “But there are billions of triples in the LOD cloud!” ← → “Wow, how did you count them?”

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What's the Opposite of a Silver Lining? → “Ha ha ha, the whole Web of Data fits on a single slide!” “But there are billions of triples in the LOD cloud!” ← → “Wow, how did you count them?” “Er, we did some estimates...” ←

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What's the Opposite of a Silver Lining? → “Ha ha ha, the whole Web of Data fits on a single slide!” “But there are billions of triples in the LOD cloud!” ← → “Wow, how did you count them?” “Er, we did some estimates...” ← → “So you didn't actually count them all?”

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What's the Opposite of a Silver Lining? → “Ha ha ha, the whole Web of Data fits on a single slide!” “But there are billions of triples in the LOD cloud!” ← → “Wow, how did you count them?” “Er, we did some estimates...” ← → “So you didn't actually count them all?” “Er, no.” ←

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What's the Opposite of a Silver Lining? → “Ha ha ha, the whole Web of Data fits on a single slide!” “But there are billions of triples in the LOD cloud!” ← → “Wow, how did you count them?” “Er, we did some estimates...” ← → “So you didn't actually count them all?” “Er, no.” ← → “Why not?”

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What's the Opposite of a Silver Lining? → “Ha ha ha, the whole Web of Data fits on a single slide!” “But there are billions of triples in the LOD cloud!” ← → “Wow, how did you count them?” “Er, we did some estimates...” ← → “So you didn't actually count them all?” “Er, no.” ← → “Why not?” “Umm, we don't have the resources...” ←

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What's the Opposite of a Silver Lining? → “Ha ha ha, the whole Web of Data fits on a single slide!” “But there are billions of triples in the LOD cloud!” ← → “Wow, how did you count them?” “Er, we did some estimates...” ← → “So you didn't actually count them all?” “Er, no.” ← → “Why not?” “Umm, we don't have the resources...” ← → “Oh...”

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Counter-arguments

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We don't want to count the number of triples anyway! Who bothers to count the number of pages on the Web anymore, now the pissing matches are over? We can't meaningfully fit all the blobs on one slide anymore, anyway!

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After the Cloud has Dissipated...

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Can we function without it?

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How do we market Linked Data without eye candy?

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Can the Web of Data evolve beyond just growth?

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Part 2: What Happens Next?

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The 'Open' in 'Linking Open Data'

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The 'Open' in 'Linking Open Data' • Linked Data is a style of publishing data on the Web • Linking Open Data is a project • Open Data is complementary but orthogonal to Linked Data • Let's not put openness on the critical path to Linked Data adoption • Let's get our house in order re licensing: – Facts are not creative works – Data needs a separate licensing framework (Creative Commons often does not apply)

• Places to start: – http://www.opendatacommons.org/guide/ – ISWC2009 Tutorial on Data Licensing

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The 'Links' in 'Linked Data'

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The 'Links' in 'Linked Data'

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Relax (for now) about the owl:sameAs problem

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It's only a problem when users tell us it's a problem

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Data quality is the overarching issue

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The 'Links' in 'Linked Data' Depictions of dbpedia:Atonement_(film)

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Fundamental Requirements for Linked Data

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Fundamental Requirements for uptake of Linked Data • Quality data • Availability and stability of data sets • Publishing at source • Clarity re. licensing (i.e. terms of reuse) • Applications!

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The 'Killer App' Question

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The Killer App Question • Question: “What will be the Linked Data killer app?” • Answer: If I knew, I wouldn't tell you. • Answer: There may not be one. Get over it. • Answer: Killer apps are just post-hoc rationalisations – What is the killer app of electricity? Lighting? TV? Who cares?

• No more obsessing or speculation allowed, principled analysis only!

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Where do we Focus our Efforts?

• Sustaining innovation • Disruptive innovation – Low-end disruption – New-market disruption (Christensen and Raynor, The Innovator's Solution, 2003)

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Where do we Focus our Efforts? • “A sustaining innovation targets demanding, highend customers with better performance than what was previously available.”

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Where do we Focus our Efforts? • “A sustaining innovation targets demanding, highend customers with better performance than what was previously available.” • “If your idea for a product or business appears disruptive to some established companies but might represent a sustaining improvement for others, then you should go back to the drawing board.”

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Where do we Focus our Efforts? • “A sustaining innovation targets demanding, highend customers with better performance than what was previously available.” • “If your idea for a product or business appears disruptive to some established companies but might represent a sustaining improvement for others, then you should go back to the drawing board.” • Risky business ideas? – A new search engine that exploits structured data – A reviewing and rating site that publishes data in RDF – A new CMS with Linked Data support

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Where do we Focus our Efforts? • Low-End Disruption – “Address overserved customers with a lower-cost business model” – “Are there customers at the low end of the market who would be happy to purchase a product with less (but good enough) performance if they could get it at a lower price?” – “Can we create a business model that enables us to earn attractive profits at the discount prices required to win the business of these overserved customers at the low end?” – What can we do less well with Linked Data, but at significantly less cost than with existing approaches?

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Where do we Focus our Efforts? • New-Market Disruption – “Compete against non-consumption” – “New-market disruptive products are so much more affordable to own and simpler to use that they enable a whole new population of people to begin owning and using the product, and to do so in a more convenient setting.” – What can we enable with Linked Data that a large number of people aren't doing right now because it's too hard, expensive or inconvenient?

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Conclusions • Linked Data: by all accounts a great success • The success criteria are changing • Time to change up – – – –

Quality Stability Clarity Applications

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Questions?

Slides – http://tomheath.com/slides/2009-09-london-linked-data-thestory-so-far.pdf

Acknowledgements – Ian Davis and Justin Leavesley